Devialet’s first soundbar comes complete with a rotating orb – here’s how it makes your audio sound better
The luxury French audio brand is a favourite of the warring Roy family from hit HBO drama ‘Succession’
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Your support makes all the difference.Luxury audio brand Devialet – whose phantom speaker (£2,790, Devialet.com) made a cameo in the lavish Waystar Royco boardroom of hit drama Succession – has today launched the Devialet dione, its first all-in-one TV soundbar.
Available to pre-order now, the Devialet dione (£1,990, Devialet.com) brings the French brand’s renowned audio expertise to a sleek soundbar measuring 77mm tall and 1.2m long, packed with eight subwoofers, nine full-range speakers and designed to fit seamlessly into any home cinema setup.
The wireless Devialet dione soundbar aims to replace traditional satellite speakers and can be wall-mounted or placed flat beneath a TV.
The company claims that a glut of proprietary technologies such as 3D beamforming – which bounces soundwaves around the room to create the illusion that sound is coming from all around you – can reproduce 5.1.2 surround sound quality audio. All while still ensuring that the speaker performs identically regardless of where in the room it is placed.
In the middle of the soundbar is Devialet’s peculiar-looking orb, which uses a gyroscope to spin and rotate, automatically accounting for the acoustics of the room so that sound is projected in all of the right directions regardless of the physical orientation of the soundbar itself.
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Devialet dione: £1,990, Devialet.com
Devialet might lack the brand recognition of rival soundbar makers such as Sony, Sonos and Sennheiser, but since the company launched in 2007 its uniquely alien-looking speakers have become a darling of boutique hotels, upscale members clubs and semi-fictional media moguls.
The company’s investors include LVMH. In 2017 it partnered with Sky to create the (now discontinued) Sky soundbox, and in 2021 it entered into a 10-year-agreement with the Paris Opera to design and build an acoustic experience room at Palais Garnier.
The infamous Devialet phantom speaker (£2,790, Devialet.com) has also popped up in the background of Succession, the hit HBO drama about an ultra-wealthy media dynasty in turmoil. The show infamously used real-world “wealth consultants” to advise on how the super rich would act, what clothes they’d wear, and presumably which speakers they’d listen to Spotify on.
Read more: The best TV soundbars in 2022
The Devialet dione is the brand’s first home cinema soundbar, and while you don’t need to be CEO of a media empire to buy one, it isn’t trying to compete with the best TV soundbars on price.
At £1,990 the dione is more than twice as expensive as our current favourite soundbar, the Sonos arc (£899, Sonos.com), but still well within the price range of what you might expect to pay for a top-end TV speaker. The premium Sennheiser ambeo (£2,199, Sennheiser.com) features similar beamforming tech and is a better comparison point.
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Want a solid soundbar that won’t break the bank? Have a read of our round-up of the best budget soundbars